Frozen Creed Requiem
That night Anna found herself walking the roofs of Arendelle for the first time in forever. after Anna had finished all but exiling Ulga she had gone back to Elsa's room to find the door locked. For an instant Anna had panicked but then had calmed down and thought things through, remembering that what she had learned and hearing Ulga berate her had shocked Elsa so much so that she had retreated to her old room and shut the door tightly behind her.
"She needs to be alone, to processes what's happened and to make sure no one gets hurt if her powers get away from her." Anna thought. As much as she liked to help Elsa with anything, she had learned from hard experience that sometimes her sister needed to be alone to work things out for herself without being pushed as she had told Kai. Anna shook away the bad memories as her hand moved to her chest and refocused on her current objective to make sure that the rest of the city calmed down.
"Elsa, it's me. I'm not going to ask you to open the door. I know that at times like these you need to be alone to sort things out. Listen, I'm going to go out into the city to make sure things have quieted down. Don't worry, I promise I'll be safe. You just worry about you for now, and when I get back, maybe we can talk" Anna said and turning walked away. Inside her room Elsa was trembling as a blizzard raged, crying, both in happiness and frustration that her sister was so understanding. She was happy that Anna wasn't pushing her, but frustrated as well that she wasn't barging in to try to calm her down.
"Fool, she knows you. She knows that after a few hours of solitude you'll get yourself under control and come out, and she's willing to wait, she's always willing to wait" Elsa thought, the warmth that came with it chasing the cold away.
After getting dressed Anna quickly made her way to Bernadettes shop and climbed up to the second story where her small house was. She opened the window and slipped inside, using her eagle sense to "see" in the dark and walked through the small den to the bedroom where she saw the small bed. Anna walked silently to the side of the bed and put her hand on the shoulder of the lump under the covers.
"Bernadette" Anna said quietly and the form jerked up in surprise, and to Anna's surprise it was a man.
"What!" He demanded as Anna stepped back.
"Who are you!?" He demanded as Bernadette came awake and the man leapt out of the bed to stand in front of Anna ready to fight.
"You. Do you know what time it is?" Bernadette asked climbing out of bed completely naked, as was the man.
"We need to talk" Anna said glad that the darkness and her hood hid her blush.
"Who is this?" The man asked as Bernadette picked up a robe off the floor and put it on.
"Never you mind" She said as she walked past Anna and into the den.
"You should leave, now" Anna said sternly, and the man got back into his pants and gathered up his cloths as fast as possible, almost running out the door.
"I wonder if he'll call the guards?" Anna asked thinking how inconvenient it would be if she had to flee before they could talk.
"Even if he did I doubt they would believe him. Heinrich has a reputation" Bernadette said.
"One of your thieves?" Aanna said and her friend shrugged.
"So are you going to tell me why you woke me up and kicked a good man out of my bed?" Bernadette asked.
"I came to tell you Ulga is gone, exiled" Anna said and explained what she had done. When she finished her friends face turned grim.
"I'm sure you did what you had to, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth" Bernadette said.
"No worse than mine. I'm sworn to protect the common people, not have them shipped off to the nuthouse half a world away" Anna said as Bernadette went to a cubberd and took out a bottle and two glasses.
"Ulga has been unhinged since poor Adam died" Bernadette said pouring two drinks and offering one to Anna.
"Not tonight" She said.
"Which is why I had her institutionalized as far away as possible" Anna said.
"So you came to pour your heart out to me?" Bernadette asked.
"I came to ask if you would help me in rallying the people" Anna said and the other girls eyes raised.
"The mob today proved to me that their will always be those who are distrustful of kings and queens, or government in the hands of one person, as they should be. But the solution is not rioting and uncontrolled bloodshed" Anna said.
"On that we agree" Bernadett said giving Anna a suspicious look.
"I have seen that the former British colonies in the Americas have sought their independence to be ruled by their own people" Anna said and Berne almost choked on her swallow of bourbun.
"Wait you want to impose some kind of constitution on Arendelle?" Bernadette asked.
"Why not. The world is changing, new democracy is spreading and I do not think it will end at the shores of the new world" Anna said.
"You do realize that what your saying is bordering on treason against your own sister?" Bernadette asked.
"Ulga was exiled from Arendell because my loyalty to my sister outweighed my loyalty to the people. Even though Ulga was wrong in her intentions, she was right in her anger." Anna said.
"And how will writing a constitution change what happened. It was your sisters magic that caused those deaths, not a decision by the monarchy." Bernadette said.
"Yes, but part of it has always been that the poorest always feel oppressed and powerless in the face of the monarchy and the nobility. That needs to change, or we eventually risk full scale rebellion. I would rather see my sister lose some of her power than see a raving mob rip her to pieces or have her murder a score of our people defending herself." Anna explained.
"That makes sense" Bernadette said.
"A constitution will take some of the bitterness out of those who feel oppressed by a Queen who is untouchable nobility as well as being something of a living goddess" Bernadette said.
"Please tell me that is not how some are viewing her" Anna said and the girl shrugged.
"Between her beauty, grace, intelligence kindness and magic, shrines to her as a goddess have been popping up secretly all around the city much to the anger of the local churchmen and those who view her as a witch" Bernadette said.
"You may have to make me a list of these places." Anna said.
"So besides giving you a list of shrines to your sister for you to destroy and helping you steal her power, is there anything else I can do?" She asked teasingly.
"I'll let you know when I think of something else" Anna replied wearily. She returned to the sanctuary, hung up her robes and returned to the castle and walked to her room to find Elsa at her door.
"Hey" Anna said relieved to see her. Elsa looked just as relieved as she walked up and hugged Anna.
"I'm sorry about shutting you out like that" She whispered.
"Don't be. I've learned the hard way that sometimes you need to be alone with no one pushing you" Anna said.
"Thank you" Elsa said.
"Come in" Anna said as she opened her door to prepare for bed.
"I thought you would be in bed by now?" Elsa asked and Anna shrugged.
"The good and bad thing about no one having the authority to tell you to go to bed" Anna said as she undressed.
"Except me" Elsa said.
"Now Elsa, you're my sister, and the Queen, but not mother." Anna joked as she emerged from her changing screen in her sleep cloths to find Elsa perched at the end of the bed looking downcast.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Anna asked.
"Nothing, I guess you mentioning mother" Elsa said and Anna felt a conflicting set of emotions.
"I...miss them too" Anna said half truthfully.
"It's just...I keep trying to take care of you, and more and more I realize that you've grown up" Elsa said.
"Not as much as you might think" Anna said and Elsa shook her head.
"We both have our faults, we both made mistakes, but you were the one who managed to fix them in the end, both mine and yours. You even risked your safety again, going down into the city to try to calm things down, which we will be talking about later" Elsa said half scolding before her eyes softened.
"I don't know what I would do without you" Elsa said and the night of the accident flashed through Anna's mind. She took Elsa's hands in hers and stared at them, perfectly sculpted soft ivory white skin resting on Anna's rougher slightly calloused hands. The hands of a Queen that held the power to literally change the world around her resting in the hands of a trained killer who had used murder to try to do the same.
"Do you think it would have been better, if I'd never been born" Anna found herself asking and felt Elsa's hands grip her almost painfully.
"Why would you say that?" Elsa gasped.
"Do you even have to ask that?" Anna almost snapped.
"You lost your childhood because of me" Anna said trying to take her hands from her sisters only for Elsa's grip to tighten.
"That's not true" Elsa said.
"Isn't it? The only reason you shut yourself away was because something happened with us and your powers. I don't care what it is but it caused you to hide in your room for half your life because you were scared of hurting me" Anna said continuing to try to escape Elsa's grip only to have her sister grip her even tighter. Anna could escape her sisters grip if she really wanted too, but that would probably hurt Elsa.
"That's because you're the most important thing in the world to me" Elsa said.
"That shouldn't mean you throw away half your life. Not over someone like me" Anna said lowering her eyes as her old feelings of inadequacy returned. She had never regretted her life as an assassin, but her life as Elsa's sister was another matter. No matter what she did she would always feel inadequate next to her sisters greater beauty, grace, intelligence, her greater everything, especially since regaining all her memories and coming to the conclusion that the accident with Elsa's powers was Anna's fault.
"What I did was a mistake, shutting you out like I did. I was scared, and I shouldn't have been. I should have realized that your love is the one thing that has always helped me control my powers." Elsa explained. Anna looked at her sister in the eyes, at the love and trust shining their and drew her into a hug.
"I can't promise I'll be worthy of it, but I can promise I'll try" Anna said and Elsa laughed.
"You are worthy, every day" Elsa said and they both crawled under the covers.
Elsa couldn't sleep. The conversation with her sister kept replaying in her mind as she held her sister in her arms feeling her soft breath on her shoulder.
"Do you think it would have been better if I'd never been born. You lost your childhood because of me. That shouldn't mean you throw your life away. Not over someone like me". Elsa had heard from some of the servants and even from Olaf that behind her bravery, confidence, and outgoing nature Anna had a rather low opinion of herself that she rarely showed...and Elsa didn't think she liked it. After everything Anna had done for her, for the kingdom, what she still did every day, and how much Elsa needed her, the thought that she thought so little of herself made Elsa angry.
"What would I do without you?" Elsa thought again as she held her sister tighter and prayed that she would never have to find out.
"I promise I will make sure you know how valuable you are too me." she thought as she finally fell asleep.